Entropy

My old 58g (Glass Cages) looked like:

Well except all the silicone was old since it was a new tank when the work was done. I actually thought it was odd since it was only a 58 (30x30x15), but they went around the entire bottom except the overflow area (which is also glass).

I noticed the damsels on my visit and thought they looked pretty cool. I noticed they each seem to have their own little territory. Kind of reminded me of the Garibaldi of the California coast. Certainly much different behavior than in the normal 29g setup at the fish stores.

Can you just add 1/2" thick by 2" wide bracing along the bottom? My old 58g was built like this and it was pretty much bullet proof as far as leaks go. That should provide a complete seal along the entire bottom edge without you having to take the tank apart at all?The previous owner of my old tank then filled the middle with star board so it was flat across the bottom. Your tank is not rimless so you wouldn't even notice from the outside.

I am doing the same thing with my tank so I look forward to the pictures. Of course I already caved and added some LPS. I might do all caps and a small LPS island.

Pm'd ya.

I will be there. I have zero nano experience, but from seeing a few recently they all had more in their tank than I have in mine so I am going to say I qualify.

They went with their original x4 koralia's, because they are a big time slacker... I am actually willing to take you up on in now, but if I end up loving it what are the chances of you selling it to me?

Edit, my tank is a 3x3 square though, so there are more issues involve. For a 7 foot tank I would think the wavebox is a no brainer since you can make a really nice wave.

This person has a Quietone 3000 which should fit your needs. Not sure if they will sell it seperate or not.

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/23455-oceanic-47-gallon-aquarium-and-equipment/

Well I think that might have been my secret. I was running the tank FOWLR for years under low lighting so the purple had zero competition. I only ran the halide for a couple of hours a day and the rest was PC's. It will be interesting to see what happens now that I am running the Halide/pc's for much longer duration. I get the feeling the purple will recede up top.

Looks like of like a sipunculida worm to me, but from what I have read they don't move a whole lot, so maybe not.

Thanks Ian. It is coming along slowly, but I am in no rush. I am planning on another 50 pounds of dry rock for the back left corner which will fill in that side and then I should be good to fill the tank with coral. I didn't realize how purple my rocks where until I added the new dry rock.

Emerald crab that is apparently not afraid of much. I saw him take a swing at my big clown last night. It reminded my of the crabs in Nemo....

I have a 10g full of the tang heaven red. I went to Patricks house last night and he sent me packing with a freezer bag stuffed full. I am not sure how long it will survive in my garage with the setup I have, but it is good right now (10g, rio 2100 pump, no light).

Monti (don't know the name) with my tribal blenny

Monti Cap (it was in focus before my clowns had to jump in)

Another Monti cap

Fox coral (fingers crossed on this one).

Side shot

Front (from the left)

New frogspawn (thanks Ian)

Red Tang Heaven on a nori clip (with some nori). No luck from my Naso, but it has only been an hour or two and there are other issues with my tang now.

Front (from the left)

New frogspawn (thanks Ian)

A few updates. I cannot believe my tank is five months old already. Someone asked me a this week and I said "about three months". Time flies I guess. Anyhoo...

Full tank shot from the front

I picked up some from Victoly tonight and o0zarkawater has some set aside for me, but I have a lot of real estate (36"x36") and a whopping 6 small frags. Where are you located? I am not afraid to drive.

I have a bag of this stuff here in North Round Rock (Teravista) if anyone wants some. Thanks again for your generosity Patrick.

The amazing thing to me is that algae will grow from seemingly nothing. When I set up my tank it was with freshly made salt water (Instant Ocean), and 50 lbs of Marco rock. Nothing else. About a month into it the whole back wall was completely covered in hair like algae (a couple of inches long). I let it go for a while and then scrapped it all up and out. It came back, but not nearly as much so I assume I did a poor mans nutrient export. I have purple coralline like you wouldn't believe on the old rock (added 50 pounds of Marco like rock which is still white). I also have a bit of red growing on the back wall, and a little green here and there. I am assuming most of this came from my snails as I doubt it was the fish.

Do you think I could stop by tonight at about 6:30-7:00PM? Already in that area picking up some LPS so it would make the trip even more fruitful.

I am dying for a wave maker... argh!!!! Why can't this stuff be less expensive?

I would avoid the hippo (too big, ich magnet, expensive) and the powders for the same reasons. I would go with a mimic, tomini, or kole. You could also do a purple maybe, but they are mean as heck and pricey. The mimics are the ones I see most often locally, but any can be had online.

Two tangs in a 75 will likely draw the tang police, but since I just dropped a naso into mine you will not get much grief from me.

I am pretty sure you have a lot more experience than I do. My acrylic skills are pretty much in line with my welding and painting skills. They all look great from about 10 feet.

I only have tested for ammonia and nitrate recently. 0 and 5ppm which is acceptable to me. It might just be bad luck. I lost two of them a day or two after putting them in the tank so they may have not be acclimated enough or something. RCA's runs their salinity lower than mine (1.020 (RCA) vs 1.024 (Me) last time I checked), but I dont think that is enough. The third ended upside down on the sand, but I didn't see who or what got it. #4 was outright killed by the hermits. The snail managed to fall into the rocks and got wedged in there. I had to move a rock to get it out, so it was trapped. It landed door up so the hermits got to it eventually over the course of the night. That last one is still going. All my other snails are doing fine so I am not too worried about it being water quality.